Bandicoot the BJ70 Build (3 Viewers)

[Paddler Ed]

So I've been loitering around on here for a while as a member, a bit before that as a guest, and I've finally decided to bite the bullet and do an introduction and related thread.

I'm a Brit who has been based in Australia for much of the last 13 years, and in that time have had:

• 1986 FJ73 (2011-12) (sold when went back to the UK... had I known I was going to be back in 13months, I wouldn't have done so...)
• 1994 VZN130 4Runner (oh, that engine taught me so much...) (2013-2019)
• 1978 HJ45 ute (bought in 2017, still got)
• 1994 FZJ80 (Bought in 2019 for about what we sold the 4Runner for)
• 1982 Daihatsu Scat (bought in 2021 from the scrap yard)
• 1985 BJ70 (bought at the end of 2022, finally picked up early 2023)

As there isn't an intro space (that I could see) other than in series specific sections, I'm just going to pull everything together here, with some quick snapshots of the stuff we had, and what we have now.

Past:

This was the thin end of the wedge, and got me properly hooked on always having a 4x4, and in particular the long bonnet of a 70 series.

When we came back in 2013, the funds weren't quite as healthy, so we ended up with the poor relation of the 4Runner... everybody knows they're problems... but after 1x set of heads and an engine swap later, the 4Runner was gone. In the meantime, I'd ended up with a 1978 HJ45:

The Hj45 is used as a work horse, without a doubt....

There weren't any bumpstops.... the tyres reshaped the underside of the tray... perhaps this was a bit much firewood:

So, to replace the 4Runner a mate of a mate was selling a 1994 FJZ80 with under 290,000km.... for a bit more than the wrecker was going to give him. No oil painting, but it would do. We've since done over 60,000km (including 2 years of Australian lock downs...)

Used for everything from camping, to firewood getting, to tow duties (bringing home here the Daihatsu Scat), the 80 has what I describe as an inland sun tan... aka no clear coat. It came from Dubbo (about 400km west of Sydney, and then Tamworth (350km north of Sydney, still west of the Dividing Range) and is now about 450km north of Sydney, on the top of the Northern Tablelands (also known as the New England, but I reckon the Northern Tablelands is clearer on this forum).


Continued in next post... ran out of images...

 

[Paddler Ed]

So, the Daihatsu... this was a spur of the moment purchase; I drove past the scrap yard one day and saw it. Swung in to ask as I was looking out for one for a mate, but he didn't reply quick enough compared to the speed wife did (with how much is it? What;s wrong with it? (something "wrong" with the gearbox or motor) OK... Buy it)

That was Australia day(ish), so late January.

1600cc of Toyota 12R power, it's an absolute hoot to drive... but I need to sort the rocker cover gasket out as it let go on me. In theory has a 1,000kg payload... it would be very slow but would go anywhere with that.

Got a few bits done, and very quickly had it running around, and in use as a giant wheelbarrow. Turned out there was nothing wrong with the 'box or engine, the guy who put a price on it I think said it vocally enough that he could justify the price he charged me.... AU$450...

(oh, look... more firewood - is it obvious that the Northern Tableland gets cold yet?!)

After a few months, was on the road just after ANZAC day (April). and everything is on the road:

(Yes, the Land Cruiser both have baling twine tied to the UHF antenna, a mate did it as a laugh, and it's now the signature on all of our stuff with UHF).


So, that brings us up to now. I spotted a sorry looking BJ70 come up on a picker's Instgram page (I'll give him a plug because he does find cool things AussieKombiHunter and is a nice bloke to deal with)

Again a back and forth conversation... this was over a few weeks of negotiation with wife, culminating in "we should get it - can we?"

So money exchanged hands, and eventually I got down to bring it back up to me (it was 600km away):

Looking sorry when I picked it up....

Next post the story continues....

 

[Paddler Ed]

Dragged the BJ70 back home, and up the range, where we swapped from Nissan power to Toyota power after a stop for clean.

(excuse the chimney flue on the bullbar, that was for another project that was coming up on the same trailer....)

Trailer + BJ70 was pretty close to 2500kg, the limit on the 80, so I didn't fancy abusing the poor old girl too much, so we only used the 80 for the last 90km.

Got the BJ70 home, and knowing that the seller doesn't try to get things running, you buy them as non-runners unless he says otherwise... this one is definitely a non-runner...a 24" breaker bar on the crank bolt did not yield any rotation, infact the crank bolt undid when resetting the breaker bar...

In the meantime, I got some little wins with some 16" skinnys from a 60 series for cheap:

 

[Paddler Ed]

So the 99% rust free was about right; there are a couple of holes in the floor pans (easy fixes relatively), but nothing in the roof gutters to write home about. I will hit it with some stuff called Ankor Wax, designed by a company in the UK who make it for storing steel bar stock. It's both hydrophillic (likes moisture, sucking it out of the steel) and hydrophobic (doesn't like water, repels it from what ever it is on). We used it on the Scat, and were really pleased with the results. I like the finish on the BJ70, so we'll spend a day or so painting it up and getting a couple of coats on it.

In the meantime, I've started to work out what's going on with the engine. No sump plug was present, so I pulled off the rocker cover:

That's not great, but I had hosed the engine off quite a bit to try to clean the rodent sht from around the glow plugs.... and avoid making myself ill.

So off to the sump:

Not great at the pick up, but no sight of any metal...

But again some moisture entry is evident.

No idea as to why it's down there, but we'll get there. I'm slowly working my way to getting the head off, but a lot of the bolts are a bit ordinary.

It's got 460,000km on the clock, and has been well looked after/cared for in the past, so something reasonably major looks to have happened. No vented block, so we're not sure. Clues for that are there are no dents in side steps, the owner's manual is still in the glovebox (with all 3B info highlighted!), the door locks have those plastic protectors around them and I've got an original Toyota key for it!

Plan going forward:
1) Sort engine out; either fix the 3B or fit something else - I'm edging towards finding a 14B based on reading here
2) Get the Ankorwax onto the paint to look after it, and stop the rust.
3) Fix the interior up, so the dash is complete and the seats will pass road worthy!
4) Overall aim is as a little tourer/bush camping unit, so the back will be set out with drawer and space for the fridge. Roofracks from the 80 will also fit the 70, and we'll use the Foxwing 270* whichever one is in use - along with the OzTent.


I thought it was worth doing an intro, and sorry that it's run over 3 posts!

 

[Paddler Ed]

Doh! I can't edit a post...

Why Bandicoot?

Well, the Daihatsu Scat is a wonderful shade of baby vomit/sht, and is a bit square, called scat.... like wombat sht... and therefore got called Wombat. The other Land Cruisers didn't get a name, but will probably end up with names in time.

With a long nose, which is in common with the Australian Bandicoot, and being slightly brown, the name Bandi was chosen.

It does make it easier, as we have:

• Wombat
• 80
• 45
• Commo (wife daily drives a Holden Commodore V8 ute)
• Bandi

It would easily get confusing with 3x Land Cruisers and 3x Utes to say something about the wrong one....

 

[sodafeld1]

I like bandicoots very much!

 

[Paddler Ed]

So the interior is there... mostly... but as many parts are shared with the more recent 70s, it's not the end of the world.

As can be seen, the floor mat is missing, so I'm going to work out what can work from a double cab (the seat mounts are the same as a double cab/wagon, having walked past the local smash repairs workshop where they had a stripped double cab out the front).

The back is a blank canvas; as a BJ70 is it is only a 3 seater, and I don't think I have any of the mounts to fit a rear seat.

Back area is about 1100mm to the rear seat backs, and ~1500mm wide. The plan here is to re-line the back side panels with some masonite wrapped in something, and for the rear doors to fit some of the panels available for the troopy and wagon over here. In the back, I think it's going to be drawers to the top of the wheel arches and then fridge on the top. This may leave enough room for the dogs (who photo bomb every so often) to come on some trips as well.

(oh, I can edit now!)
Seats all need some TLC, but I think that I can fit later seats to it as an upgrade/repair, depending on the cost effectiveness of the different options.

Target is to have it all sorted in the next 12 months (or less).

 

[Paddler Ed]

Big day today:

Part 1 was giving it a good wash and then a coat of Ankor Wax (Ankor Wax Preservative Fluid - https://www.morrislubricantsonline.co.uk/ankor-wax-preservative-fluid.html) which we have used on the Daihatsu very successfully.

Start of the day, drag it out to the sun with the 80. Dogs are there to supervise.

Realised that it nearly matches my work shirt (equally faded)

Everywhere got cleaned; the back doors had a good load of mud in them as well, so that took a bit of cleaning to get it out:

But all the drain holes are clear now in the doors

Putting the layer of Ankor Wax on; it looks a bit messy (applied with a paint brush)

You can see where I've stated to get it applied on the bonnet, and on the wing. It leaves a slight shine, but can be polished up as much as you want. I still need to do another coat really, but it's got a coat on it now.

Annoyingly, I've not got a finished photo! It's about a 3hr process; 1hr cleaning and prep, then put a coat on, have an hour or so break (it was a bit cool today, so it took a bit longer) and then an hour cover with a rag to polish up the runs and brush marks. It really needs another go over to shine it up, but we've got the excess off for now.

Once that was done, it was onto the next task...

 

[Paddler Ed]

So, the next job (we'd sent a picture to a mate of me cleaning the car, to which he replied it made no sense making it look nice if it doesn't work!) was to get back into sorting the engine out.

I'd hit a load of the nuts and bolts with penetrating oil over the last few weeks, and just chipped away at getting bits off.

First off was the intake manifold, then the power steering pump and alternator.

Oh, and the fan shroud off, and the thermostat housing...

Intake manifold looked OK; the gloves are covering the injectors.

The thermostat housing into head gives a bit of a guide as to the joys ahead...

Exhaust manifold heat shield didn't want to shift, but the downpipe did - so off it came there. With that off, valve train was next, and then the head off:

That looks less than ideal...

 

[Paddler Ed]

And with that, the head was off:

New chambers for 1, 2 and 3 look likely, so may as well do all four.

Close up on the rough looking cylinders:

And number 3 is even better...

Android/Motorola suggested that these photos were of food...


Next plan is to finished pulling everything off the engine and then get it out for a detailed look before we work out rebuild options.

 

[Paddler Ed]

So far, 1 engine machine shop has outright said no, another has given me a fck off quote (ie enough to make it worth his while doing it, but he really doesn't want to) and I'm waiting on the 3rd (who on the phone was promising).

In the meantime I've got a load of penetrating oil sitting in the cylinder soaking into the muck (after vacuuming the worst out) to see if I can get any movement. Next up is to add some diesel to it to see if that will soak down the bores a bit to at least allow me to check if the rods are usable.

I can now also read Daihatsu model codes to find a Delta truck with a 14B in it, and there are some around with sensible Km's at a sensible price... just a few other bits that make me wary of them all up though.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Mate stopped by.

Conclusion is there are at least 2 cracks in the head we could see (between 1 and 2 and again 2 and 3), and also the pock marking of the corrosion is just too much to take out, the valves look like they won't seat properly.

So the plan now is to look for a 13B-T or a 14B. I've got a line on a 13B-T and there is at least on truck in town that looks like it's parked up which may yield an engine that I need.

Only issue is the 13B-T is from an auto, so the flywheel won't work, and a 3B is a smaller clutch than the 13B (which implies to me a smaller flywheel) but both are 6 bolt flywheels (unlike changing to a 14B).

 

[1MOA]

That engine is a boat anchor.

 

[Paddler Ed]

That engine is a boat anchor.

Yard obstacle... joins the 3VZ block from the 4Runner we had in the past. We've both reversed into it a few times...

 

[Paddler Ed]

Have a few things in the air:
3rd engine rebuilder came back (smaller shop) and he was much more positive in terms of what could be done... but reckons it needs a new head
A mate came back saying he's in touch with someone who possibly has a NOS head for a 3B

The truck I'd been eying off wasn't parked up, it's still in use... so there goes that idea.

And I also got the little Daihatsu going after 12months parked up, which is just a blast to drive around in; 1600cc, 4spd gearbox and weighs not a lot unloaded.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Starting to look like a 13B-T will be entering the story next week.... unfortunately it's in Sydney... Fortunately I need to be in Sydney for a conference, so I'll drive down to get it... but won't be able to do anything to it for a week.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Right.... so to replace a 3B with a 13B-T in a BJ70 it looks like I need to find a solution for:

1. The pre-heating screen on the 13B-T that replaces the glow plug system of the 3B
   1. I also need to sort out the in-engine bay relays for the above
2. Engine shut off: No EDIC on the 13B-T, instead it's the vacuum switch, so I'll need to work out how to wire that up. Hoping that all of that is still on the engine, and if so, that does make it much easier.
3. Smaller flywheel of the 3B vs the 13B-T flywheel - I'm buying an engine with an auto box, but don't need the auto box...

I may be able to get the pre-heating controller and relays off the seller of the engine, but it depends on what engine he swapped in and if he kept those bits.

The VSV may be fiddly, but I don't think it's the end of the world, I should be able to come up with a solution on that.

Anyone with any wise words? @FJBen? or any one else?

 

[FJBen]

Right.... so to replace a 3B with a 13B-T in a BJ70 it looks like I need to find a solution for:

1. The pre-heating screen on the 13B-T that replaces the glow plug system of the 3B
   1. I also need to sort out the in-engine bay relays for the above
2. Engine shut off: No EDIC on the 13B-T, instead it's the vacuum switch, so I'll need to work out how to wire that up. Hoping that all of that is still on the engine, and if so, that does make it much easier.
3. Smaller flywheel of the 3B vs the 13B-T flywheel - I'm buying an engine with an auto box, but don't need the auto box...

I may be able to get the pre-heating controller and relays off the seller of the engine, but it depends on what engine he swapped in and if he kept those bits.

The VSV may be fiddly, but I don't think it's the end of the world, I should be able to come up with a solution on that.

Anyone with any wise words? @FJBen? or any one else?

I’d try to find a used 13bt flywheel if I were you. That way you can run the larger clutch.
Just make sure to get the right kind for your year as there are 6 bolt (84-88) and 8 bolt (88+)

As for the vsv wiring, you’ll have to look through some diagrams to find that. The VSV for the shutdown on the 13bt is right behind the injection pump on the block. It should still be there as it’s attached to the IP bolt.

 

[Paddler Ed]

So, a 1,000km road trip resulted in the 13B-T and a lot of accessory parts, hard lines and other bits that might be useful.

And all of this:

Next up is remove the 3B for saving for spare part salvage for a mate who has a BJ40.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Amusingly, 5 years ago I was pulling the engine from the 4Runner...